A game evening (Kikuklu Christmas dinner 2012)

It was to be our Christmas dinner and the only day that suited all was December 8^th, I had managed to get all of my game together, as we, Linda and I where hosting, we had the main course to do. Being as we are in the middle of the huntsmans most fruitful time of the year it was game 3 ways. I had a nice brace of cock pheasants, a couple of hares and a full roebuck saddle (shot by my shooting mate Alan). 

First thing is to get the game in front of the guns, this was done at the annual shoot over the airfield (this only happens once a year because it is an active airfield and can only take place when no movements are taking place), there had been no shoot in 2011 due to various reasons but we expected a good bag.

 It was decided that the mains would be:

Roast Roebuck with a chocolate game sauce

Whole saddle of roe buck
Back speck (the green back fat from a piece of pork)
Game Spices Seasoning
Red wine (Cotes de Rhône )
Root vegetables diced (Suppengrün)
1 onion diced
50g of speck
Chocolate (85%)

Clean off any still attached skin, gristle  and remove the silver skin, I also removed the fillets for another meal. Half the saddle using only the thicker section. Slice the saddle along the back bone almost to the ribs. Rub all over with game spices and salt and pepper,  wrap in cling film overnight in a cool place. When ready to cook, chop a bunch of Suppengrün along with an onion and some streaky bacon (Durchwachsen Speck) add to the base of a roasting tin, just cover with a 50/50% red wine, game stock mixture. Slice the green back fat into slices and cover the saddle with this, place on top of the  vegetables, cover with foil and place in a pre-heated oven (180°C) and roast for  1 hour (max) keep checking, it should be moist and juicy. Remove from oven and keep warm, strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan, reduce by half, add a good knob of butter and 3 squares of the dark bitter chocolate, it should be rich and glossy. Carve the saddle through but keep on the rib-cage. Place on a serving platter, surround with the filled poached pears, peaches and confite onions.

Braised hare in a red wine sauce

A good sized hare cut into pieces (as this is going to be braised over several hours the age is irrelevant)
Red wine (Cotes de Rhône)
Speck (air cured belly)
Suppengrün (leek, carrot, celeriac and parsley)
Bouquets’ garni (consisting of rosemary, thyme, sage, bay and marjoram)
Onion (small dice)
Garlic (crushed and chopped)
Stock (I made fresh by roasting marrow bones, and boiling together with chicken carcasses and the game parings)
2 slices of Lemon zest
50ml Port
Game spices (my own game spice mix)

Clean and prepare the hare (remove as much shot and broken bones as possible along with the silver skin and any discoloured flesh)place in a red wine marinade along with a tablespoon of game spices overnight. Next day, fry along with the root vegetables, onion, garlic and speck, brown the hare pieces in the pan,

add some stock until the hare is just covered, pour in the Port and bury the bouquet gari and add the lemon skin, turn down the heat and slowly braise the hare pieces until tender and the meat is falling off the bones. Keep warm until ready to serve( I placed in a cast iron casserole and on the lowest heat setting on the hob).

 Pot roast pheasant on Riesling sauerkraut

 

2 dressed pheasants
150g smoked bacon rashers (thick cut)
Forced meat stuffing
Riesling
Sauerkraut
Grapes

Pick the pheasants over to remove any shot, feathers etc. singe all over with a blow torch to get rid of the wispy down. Wash well inside and out, chop the livers, hearts, add to a packet of sage and onion stuffing mix along with an onion softened in a little butter, add a handful of soft bread crumbs.

Remove the skin from a good chunky meat sausage and mix well and season with salt and pepper. Wash and dry the pheasants inside and out, fill the cavity with the stuffing and truss. Cover with the bacon, put a good handful of chopped onions in the base of a heavy based casserole, cover with vegetable stock and place in a low heat oven (do it at the same time as the you are roasting the saddle of roe).

Using sauerkraut from a tin, jar or fresh from the barrel, add some grapes, cloves, juniper berries, pimento berries and pepper and slowly cook in Riesling on top of the stove along with the pheasant cooking liquid. You will have removed the pheasants from the cooking liquid to keep warm, from the liquid.

Place in a serving dish and top with the stuffed roast pheasants, cover and keep warm until read to serve.

Accompaniments:

Riesling poached pears with a chutney filling.

Poach the pear halves in a pan of Riesling flavoured with a winter spiced tea, allow to cool in the liquid overnight, then drain and fill with my own home made green tomato and apple chutney

Peach halves with a spiced peach, plum and ginger filling

I used a good quality jar of Italian peaches halves and a spicy compote that I had made last year.

Confite baby onions

Skin the onions, melt a good knob of butter in a saucepan, and sauté until just coloured, then ladle in stock and poach over a low heat, the stock will be absorbed by the onions and turn into a fantastic glossy coating

Hairy bikers spiced red cabbage

Shred the red cabbage, sauté a large onion until with star aniseed and a cinnamon stick in neutral oil, add the shredded cabbage and allow to soften over a very low heat,add a grated apple, stirring every now and again, when soft add a table spoon of redcurrant jelly.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, shallots and speck

Par-boil the sprouts, place in iced water until required. Soften, the diced shallots and fry the speck in butter, add the sprouts and sauté, add the chestnuts and heat through, season and give it a good grating of nutmeg.

Servietten Knödeln (bread dumplings)

Half a loaf of white bread (with crusts on) steep in 150ml warm milk, soften a medium onion in oil and add to the bread and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. Chop up 20 green olives, pluck the green leaves from a bunch of parsley, and stir into the bread mixture, add 1 whole egg mix, pour out onto a large sheet of well-buttered aluminium foil, roll into a large sausage shape twisting the ends to compress. Poach in boiling water for 30 minutes, remove from the water, allow to rest for a while, release from the foil and slice into 10mm thick slices. Fry these golden brown in olive oil (or butter)

Cheesy baked potato, celeriac, and turnip (swede) mash

Dice the potatoes, celeriac and turnip into equal sized pieces, boil until soft in salted water, drain and dry (put back into the hot pan and allow any remaining water to steam off), add a large knob of butter and mash until smooth, do not add any salt at this time as you are now adding the two salty cheeses (50g each of Parmesan and a hard Swiss mountain cheese). Add a good dollop of crème frais and only now taste and adjust the seasoning if required. Put into an oven proof dish and criss-cross with a fork to make a nice pattern. Bake in a hot oven until a gold crust forms.

Wild mushroom ragout.

Clean and halve a selection of mushrooms (in this case I used brown caps, white button, krauter settlings, and frozen cepes, allow to defrost, drain and dry on kitchen paper). Sauté a chopped shallot with diced juniper cured ham in a little olive oil, add the mushrooms and fry until they start to give off their liquid, season (salt & pepper)add 100ml of Rama crème frais (a vegetable cream substitute), keep warm until ready to serve.

But before we got to the mains our dear friend Kalle had prepared a very nice entrée, consisting of a beetroot crisp, with cream goat’s cheese quenelles done 4 ways, curry, chives, paprika and natural.

 

The main course was followed by a very nice palate cleaning dessert of orange, grapefruit and pomegranate, Very refreshing.

Then came Carolyn’s Christmas pud, flamed with brandy and served with brandy butter and crème frais flavoured with Prosecco and brandy.

Quite a fitting end to a Christmas dinner. Well not quite the end, we did continue for a while longer drinking fine brandy and wines.

We did have a very nice evening

Christmas Markets 2012

It was a long time coming, the Christmas Markets, that German institution that has spread throughout the rest of the Western World and provides China with another industry fuelled by Western demand. What had once been the domain of small specialist craftsmen was now mass produced in China. There are still some that manage to carry on in the old tradition, like the wooden pyramids and smoking men of the Erzgebirge or Rothenberg Glass blowers, but even here you can see cheap replicas creeping in. Progress I suppose and as unstoppable as an avalanche or the McDonalds taking over from traditional foods.

Uschi our dear friend  and us two, meet up on various times during the year, Carnival, special days when foreign cultures show off their food and folklore,  most years we pick a Christmas market to visit and normally do Dortmund or Düsseldorf, but this time we selected Cologne.

It was good as I then asked Linda if she fancied making a weekend of it as we have good friends that live near Bonn and that would mean we could visit them and also go to the Bonner Weihnachtsmarkt. As we both had never been to either his would fill in a gap in our education.

So Marga and Ewald duly informed that they would have guests for the first weekend in Advent, it was arranged that Friday would be Bonn and Saturday in Cologne.

I travelled down from Rheda and arrived at our friends in 2 hrs after the normal traffic hold ups on the A1 (I have lived in Germany for 36 years and in all that time there has always been road works and hold ups on the A1).

We agreed that we would pick up Linda from the Central Station, the poor lass had travelled from Lübeck and it that was over a 5 hour journey, the things that people do in the name of culture. We could then pop across the road and take in the Bonner Christmas Market. This is it in pictures:

Marga and Linda

The rather large Christmas Pyramid

Käthe Wolfahrt from Rothenberg an der Tauber, one of the most famous manufacturers of glass Christmas tree decorations, you can give a small fortune out for the decorations for a small tree and be bankrupt for a large one.

The Christmas Market under the ever watchful cathedral.  

It is a small compact, nice Olde Worlde non-commercial Christmas market.

We slept sound in Ewald’s Lemon Grove that night and even better the next night after a feast and a few glasses of wine

After breakfast Marga took us to the Central station to catch the train to Cologne, we (well the girls had) had arranged to meet just outside the railways station, which just so happens to be at the foot of the famous twin towers, no not from Tolkien, but the Kölner Dom!

We then walked along the main shopping street (it is in no way comparable with the Kö in Düsseldorf but still very nice) I wanted various Christmas presents to myself, I being the only one that knows what I want and not what others think I need.

We then went about finding the Christmas Markets, there are three in Cologne and Uschi had printed out the plan of the city and marked the areas in red. So it was first to the Engelsmarkt (Angel’s market) this was in fact on the area called the Neumarkt. But on they way we passed the bakers shops and the conditorie shops there was a very nice one with the ginger bread house in the window.

And two witches watching close by?????

 

It was still quite early in the afternoon and so was not as busy as it would be later so it was actually quite pleasant to wander from stall to stall without fear of being crushed, robbed or trampled to death at the Glühwein stands.

We passed all of those wonderful stalls selling the different Christmas (and at other times of the year) specialities)

The Artisan Bakers

The Baumkuchen, a speciality that is wound round a central spit and when sliced has rings like the rings in a tree, they are often cut into sections and coated in chocolate or some other sweet glaze.

There is also lots of fretwork stalls, here is a one that has specialised on the Dom.

And the Nougat stalls with the myriad of colours and flavours this was making me hungry, very hungry indeed.

I fancied a bite to eat, and each year I like to have my Grünkohleintopf (curly kale stew),  This year alas I was to be out of luck, I was informed by Ewald that there is a Grünkohl border with Bonn and Cologne being on the wrong side of it. After we had been around the Engelsmarkt we headed of to the next one at the Heumarkt (Hay Market), we perused the stalls and all the time getting a little more peckish, so as we were near the Alte Stadt and the Rhein, we decided to seek out a suitable Hostelry. This was easier said than done, as many due to so many people getting hungry at the same time (most inconsiderate) left no place for three weary travellers. We at last got into the Haxenhaus and with a bit of luck (a group of French tourists were just leaving) got a table.

I decided against having the namesake of the house, Schweinshaxe this is pork knuckle in all its variations and along with Linda settled on Gänsekeule, Kartoffel knödeln and Rotkohl ( Goose leg potato dumplings and red cabbage) Uschi had the regional speciality Rheinische Sauerbraten.

I had the beer famous in the Cologne area “Kölsch”, this is a beer akin to the English Mild, in that it is bottom brewed beer? Please do not make the mistake of asking for an Altbier, this is very similar but you will be told in no uncertain terms that you are in the wrong city (Alt comes from Düsseldorf and the two cities are always at odds which has the best beer, the best carnival,  the best football team, in fact the best of anything).

So after a very nice hour we walked along the Rheinufer, the walk along the banks of the mighty river Rhine, the river that rises in Switzerland and enters the North Sea at the delta in Rotterdam and the surrounding area.

Due to the mild weather (it felt pretty cold to me) the Rhine barges and cruise ships were still plying up and down with their cargoes of goods and passengers.  

Walking through the Altstadt

We made our way back towards the Dom and the Central Station as we needed to catch the train back to Bonn and Marga’s  Martins Braten, a recipe that I must get off her as it was delicious. We ate and drank and chatted about next year’s trip to Cornwall, I had promised Marga many years ago, when she was my landlady, that we would one day go to Cornwall (she watches too much Rosamunde Pilchar). We have now settled on summer 2013. So it is to be in campervans, I shall be buying one very soon and Ewald and Marga are going to hire a one.

Next morning it was up earlyish and took Linda to the railway station and I headed up the A1 through the rain, sleet and snow, but made good time and guess what? I was able to get in another Christmas Market, our very own at Wiedenbrück and at last I got my Grünkohleintopf.

Boiled fruit cake

Navy Fruit and Nut Cake

 

 

100g margarine (or butter)

150g dark sugar (démariera)

500g mixed fruit and nuts (I made my own with 50g each of diced figs, dates, prunes, and ginger, mixed peel, cranberries, 75g glazed cherries, 75g large sultanas, make up the rest of the weight with sliced almonds. (You can use what ever nuts you like, in fact you can use what ever fruit you like)

1 pkt Mixed spices (I used Liebküchengewürz)

170 ml water

60 ml (more or less) of Navy Rum

1 heaped tsp. of bicarbonate of soda (Natron)

2 beaten eggs

75g of plain flour

25g wholemeal flour

100g of SR flour

Put the fat, sugar, fruit, water, rum, bicarb, mixed spices into a large sauce pan bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When it has cooled down a little, add the flours and beaten egg, mix well.

Pour into a loaf tin (I have a silicon baking form so I suppose it should be “pour into a silicon loaf form”) bang it onto a hard surface to get rid of any air bubbles and make sure that all corners are filled .

 

Put into the centre of a pre-heated oven (175°C) and bake for 1 ½ hrs, check after 1 hr (push a skewer in and test, it should come out clean when cooked) if it is browning too much cover with a piece of baking paper.

NB if you don’t have self raising flour (it is not readily available in Germany) just add 2 ½ level spoons of baking powder (Backpulver) to the 200g of plain flour. (or a mixture of plain and wholemeal).

Bicarbonate of Soda is Natron.

I find that Liebküchengewürz is a very good substitute for mixed spices.

I converted this from a recipe that was on the wildfood board, I believe it is not a new recipe and can easily be adapted. I think I shall work on a Diabetic one (using sugar substitute) and also try adding oranges and lemons and fruit juice instead of the water, Cointreau would then be very nice as the booze. You can of course leave the booze out, but go on spoil yourself it’s Christmas.

 

 

 

The loaf after I cut the end off to sample it, I also had a piece for breakfast with a nice cuppa, I also gave my work collegue a slice and had packed the rest in foil to take home for his wife and daughter along with the recipe.